Eyes Open

The news can be terribly negative. It’s important to keep up with what’s going on in the world, but we should never let the bad overwhelm us into forgetting the good.

Look at the feature photo above. We can focus on the grey clouds and the possibility of rain. Or we can soar the wind with the pelicans.

If our eyes are open to it something positive might appear. Maybe a speck of blue in a field of green…

…will turn out to be a dragonfly.

Or, when we spot a killdeer chasing a redwing blackbird through the sky (happening too quickly to get a photo), we might look down to see the killdeer’s mate scurrying about, rounding up three baby killdeers that are almost invisible in the grass.

A second glance at the plants and pebbles along the path might reveal a perfect black feather, painted with its own perfect white wing.

A butterfly might decide to rest on the gravel at a fork in the path. And we’ll see it.

Years ago I was feeling discontented, empty—I was caught up in the negative, waiting for something big to come along and change my life. When that didn’t happen, I wished to find more joy in the little things, a hummingbird hovering or a rose bud unfurled, the things that brought me joy as a child. Then over time I realized it was my choice. I could wallow or I could choose to open my eyes and let the little things fill me up.

When we walk down a path like the one below, that runs through a marsh with lots of birds and small animals, there’s a lot of poop to step around—it can’t be missed. But while we’re on the lookout for that, we can open our eyes to the good stuff, too.

Love the pictures!
There is so much smoke from forestfires that I am not getting to see much wildlife these days except the odd distressed looking crow or seagull.
Good idea not to focus too much on the poop of life!
W